Clasp assembly for a watch chain

ABSTRACT

A clasp assembly, which can be disconnected or connected with a watch chain quickly, includes a clasp cap, an inner bend plate, outer band plate, a screw, a rivet and an elastic shaft. The inner bend plate comprises an arc plate body and two cylindrical bodies, the two cylindrical bodies disposed on one end of the plate body, a thread hole provided on the surface of a distal end of each cylindrical body, a through hole provided on the other end of the plate body and a convex clasp provided on each side of the plate body. A groove is provided in the middle of the outer bend plate and a through hole is formed on one end of the out bend plate, which comprises two sections spaced by the groove, and linked with the through hole of the inner bend plate by engaging with the rivet pivotally. A through hole is formed on the other end of the outer bend plate which remains integral, and concave clasps are disposed symmetrically on the inner sides of the outer bend plate. The clasp cap is pivotally connected with the thread hole of the inner bend plate by the screw, through holes disposed in two side plates of the clasp cap. A hook clasp and a locking clasp for being connected with the watch chain are mounted on the elastic shaft engaging with the through holes, the locking clasp fitting into the hook clasp. A security cover is pivotally mounted on the rivet connecting the outer bend plate with the watch chain.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Chinese Utility Model Application No. 2004200592487 filed on May 28, 2004, the content of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a clasp assembly, particularly to a clasp assembly which can be connected or disconnected with a watch chain quickly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In the prior art, the structure of a clasp assembly for a metallic watch chain is very complicated, involves a lot of parts, and is difficult to assemble and maintain. In order to solve this problem, a new clasp for a watch chain with fewer components and a simple structure was developed, such as that disclosed in Chinese Patent No. 99200269.9, which has been used and accepted widely. As the developments of economy and technology, multifunction watches are designed to incorporate other functions into a watch. For example, a compass could be combined with a watchcase to form a new watch. However, such watch needs a specially designed watch chain which can be disconnected to position the watchcase in a horizontal level when it is used as a compass. Since tools must be used, it is inconvenient to use and assemble the conventional watch chains and clasps sold in the market or disclosed in Chinese Patent No. 99200269.9.

Relying on rich experiences in the related industry, the present inventor designed a novel clasp assembly, which can be connected and disconnected with a watch chain easily without any tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a clasp assembly for a watch chain, which can be disconnected with the watch chain simply without any tools and solve the existing problems in the art that it is inconvenient to use since the tools must be used to release the watch chain from the clasp.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a clasp assembly for a watch chain, which can effectively prevent the clasp assembly from being unlocked accidentally, which may lead to losing the watch.

The clasp assembly of the present invention, which can be disconnected or connected with a watch chain quickly, includes a clasp cap, an inner bend plate, outer band plate, a screw, a rivet and an elastic shaft, wherein

-   -   the inner bend plate comprises an arc plate body and two         cylindrical bodies, the two cylindrical bodies disposed on one         end of the plate body with a same axis or approximately same         axis, a thread hole provided on the surface of a distal end of         each cylindrical body, a through hole provided on the other end         of the plate body and a convex clasp provided on each side of         the plate body;     -   the outer bend plate has an arc shape with a thickness, a groove         provided in the middle of the outer bend plate, a through hole         formed on one end of the out bend plate, which comprises two         sections spaced by the groove, and linked with the through hole         of the inner bend plate by engaging with the rivet pivotally, a         through hole formed on the other end of the outer bend plate         which remains integral, and concave clasps 24 are disposed         symmetrically on the inner sides of the outer bend plate to         engage with the convex clasps; and     -   the clasp cap is pivotally connected with the thread hole of the         inner bend plate by the screw, through holes with a same axis         disposed in two side plates of the clasp cap, characterized in         that a hook clasp and a locking clasp for being connected with         the watch chain are mounted on the elastic shaft engaging with         the through holes with a same axis in the side plates of the         clasp cap and can rotate independently, the locking clasp         fitting into the hook clasp.

The hook clasp is in a form of a metal sheet, on one end of which there are two rings curved upward, a groove between the rings and lugs extending outside the rings for controlling its rotation angle and on the other end of which there are two hooks curved upward for being connecting with the watch chain.

The locking clasp is in a form of a metal sheet, on one end of which a ring is formed, its width being narrow than that of the groove between the two rings of the hook clasp, on the other end of which a fastening clasp is formed for engaging with the hook to fasten the watch chain to the clasp assembly.

The outer bend plate is pivotally connected with the watch chain by a rivet, on which a security cover is disposed pivotally on both outer sides of the outer bend plate.

The security cover is a metal frame with a U-shaped section, two side plates of which have tongues extending backward for pivotally connecting with the rivet, a notch disposed on each side plate for engaging with the screw.

A tap formed integrally on the top of the metal frame for being unlocked by hand.

A spacer is provided between the security cover and the watch chain.

A protrusion is disposed on each inner side of two side plates of the metal frame, and a through hole corresponding to the protrusion is disposed on each side plate of the clasp cap.

The problems existing in the prior art are solved by adding a pair of hook clasp and locking clasp, which can be assembled and disassembled manually, to the connection of the conventional watch chain and the clasp to form a clasp assembly, which can be connected and disconnected with the watch chain quickly.

The clasp assembly further has a security cover to improve the security of use and effectively prevent the clasp assembly from being unlocked accidentally, which may lead to losing the watch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side view of the clasp assembly for a watch chain according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the clasp assembly for a watch chain according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the clasp cap according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the clasp cap according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the outer bend plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the outer bend plate according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the inner bend plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the inner bend plate according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the security cover according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the security cover according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a side view of the hook clasp according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the hook clasp according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a side view of the locking clasp according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating the operation of the clasp assembly according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the clasp assembly of the present invention includes an inner bend plate 1, and an outer bend plate 2, a clasp cap 3, a security cover 4, a hook clasp 5, a locking clasp 6, a screw 7, a rivet 8 and an elastic shaft 9. The inner bend plate 1 is fitted into the outer bend plate 2, a convex clasp 15 and a concave clasp 16 therein engaging with each other so that the inner bend plate 1 and the outer bend plate 2 are combined into one bend plate, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. The clasp plate 3 is movably connected with the inner bend plate 1 through the screw 7, and can pivot slightly about the screw 7. The hook clasp 5 and the locking clasp 6 are mounted on the elastic shaft 9 in the inner side of the clasp cap 3, wherein the hook clasp 5 can pivot slightly about the shaft 9 and the locking clasp 6 can pivot about it in a large angle range. The watch chain 18 is connected with the hook clasp 5 and locked by the locking clasp 6. FIG. 14 shows the operation steps for releasing the watch chain 18 from the clasp assembly. First, the lock clasp 6 is unlocked and pivoted with a large angle, and then an end of the watch chain 18 is released from two hooks 54 of the hook clasp 5. The other end of the watch chain 18 is connected with the clasp assembly through the outer bend plate 2.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the inner bend plate 1 is made of metal and comprises an arc plate body 10 and two cylindrical bodies 11 and 12 with a same axis or difference axles welded on or integrated into one end of the plate body 10. A thread hole 13 is provided on the distal end of each cylindrical body. A through hole 14 is provided on the other end of the plate body 10 and a convex clasp 15 protrudes from each side of the plate body 10 respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the outer bend plate 2 is integrally formed by metal materials and has an arc shape with a thickness. There is a groove 20 provided in the middle of the outer bend plate 2. A through hole 22 is formed on one end of the out bend plate which comprises two sections spaced by the groove 20, and a through hole 23 is formed on the other end of the outer bend plate 2 which remains integral. A rivet 80 passes through the hole 23 to connect with the watch chain, as shown in FIG. 1. Concave clasps 24 are disposed symmetrically on the inner side of the out bend plate 2 near the through hole 23. The rivet 8 passes through the hole 22 in the outer bend plate 2 and the hole 14 in the inner bend plate 1, and the inner bend plate 1 fits into the groove 20. The ends of the rivet 8 are tightly fitted with the hole 22. The diameter of the hole 14 is large than that of rivet 8 and the width of the groove 20 is slightly wide than that of the plate body 10 of the inner bend plate, therefore the inner bend plate 1 can rotate freely in the groove 20. The shape, arc and thickness of the inner bend plate 1 matches with or are consistence with those of the outer bend plate 2. The relative position of the inner bend plate 1 is determined by the engagement of the convex clasp 15 and the concave clasp 14 of the outer bend plate 2 to form a bend plate with an integral appearance and an aesthetic feeling, wherein the cylindrical bodies 11 and 12 of the inner bend plate 1 contact with the flange 25 of the outer bend plate 2.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the hook clasp 5 is in a form of a metal sheet, on one end of which there are two rings 51 and 52 curved upwards from the sheet, a groove 53 between the rings and lugs 53 extending outside the rings for controlling its rotation angle and on the other end of which there are two hooks 54 curved upwards for connecting with the watch chain for purpose of assembling and disassembling easily.

As shown in FIG. 13, the locking clasp 6 is also in a form of a metal sheet. A ring o 60 is formed on one end of the locking clasp 6, the width of which is narrow than that of the groove 50 between the rings 51 and 52 of the hook clasp 5, allowing the locking clasp 6 to rotate freely about elastic shaft 9 engaging with the rings 51 and 52. The other end of the metal sheet is curved to form a fastening clasp for engaging with the hook 54 to fasten the watch chain to the clasp assembly tightly.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the clasp cap 3 has an U-shaped section. Through holes 30 with a same axis are disposed in two side plates 33 on one end of the clasp cap 3. On the other end, there is a plurality of through holes 31 disposed at equal space. The screw 7 pivotally fits into the thread holes 13 in the cylindrical bodies and the through holes 30 in the clasp cap 3. The elastic shaft 9 fits into a pair of through holes 31 corresponding to each other. The through holes 31 in pairs are provided for adjusting the length of the watch chain for different users. The elastic shaft 9 is engaged with the hook clasp 5 and the locking clasp 6, wherein the tongues 53 of the hook clasp are positioned against the inner surface of the clasp cap 3 to allow the hook clasp 5 to rotate with a small angle, and the locking clasp 6 is fitted into the groove 50 of the hook clasp 5 in an opposite direction and can rotate about the elastic shaft 9. The hook clasp 54 is connected with the watch chain tightly.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 9 and 10, in order to release watch chain from the hook clasp 5 and locking clasp 6 and prevent the clasp cap 3 from being unlocked accidentally, a security cover 4 is disposed pivotally on the rivet 80 on both sides of the watch chain. The security cover 4 is a metal frame with a U-shaped section, two side plates 40 of which have tongues 41 extending backward for pivotally connecting with the rivet 80, a notch 42 disposed on each side plate 40 to engage with the screw 7, a tap 43 formed integrally on the top of each side plate 40 for being unlocked by hand. In addition, in order to avoid wear of tongues 41 against the watch chain, a spacer is provided between them.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a protrusion 45 is disposed on each inner side of two side plates 40 of the security cover 4. Correspondingly, through holes 35 are disposed near the thread hole 30 on each side plate 33 of the clasp cap 3.

In use, the present clasp assembly is connected with the watch chain on one end by the outer bend plate 2 and on the other end by the hook clasp 5 and locking clasp 6. Tools must be used to disassemble and assemble the connection of the outer bend plate 2 with the watch chain. Meanwhile, the connection of the hook clasp 5 and locking clasp 6 with the watch chain can be disassembled and assembled simply by hand. The clasp cap 3 is prevented to be unlocked accidentally by means of the clasp cover 4, therefore the tight connection of the hook clasp 5 with the watch can be ensured. 

1. A clasp assembly, which can be disconnected or connected with a watch chain quickly, including a clasp cap, an inner bend plate, outer band plate, a screw, a rivet and an elastic shaft, wherein the inner bend plate comprises an arc plate body and two cylindrical bodies, the two cylindrical bodies disposed on one end of the plate body with a same axis or approximately same axis, a thread hole provided on the surface of a distal end of each cylindrical body, a through hole provided on the other end of the plate body and a convex clasp provided on each side of the plate body; the outer bend plate has an arc shape with a thickness, a groove provided in the middle of the outer bend plate, a through hole formed on one end of the out bend plate, which comprises two sections spaced by the groove, and linked with the through hole of the inner bend plate by engaging with the rivet pivotally, a through hole formed on the other end of the outer bend plate which remains integral, and concave clasps are disposed symmetrically on the inner sides of the outer bend plate to engage with the convex clasps; and the clasp cap is pivotally connected with the thread hole of the inner bend plate by the screw, through holes with a same axis disposed in two side plates of the clasp cap, characterized in that a hook clasp and a locking clasp for being connected with the watch chain are mounted on the elastic shaft engaging with the through holes with a same axis in the side plates of the clasp cap and can rotate independently, the locking clasp fitting into the hook clasp.
 2. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the hook clasp is in a form of a metal sheet, on one end of which there are two rings curved upward, a groove between the rings and lugs extending outside the rings for controlling its rotation angle and on the other end of which there are two hooks curved upward for being connecting with the watch chain.
 3. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the locking clasp is in a form of a metal sheet, on one end of which a ring is formed, its width being narrow than that of the groove between the two rings of the hook clasp, on the other end of which a fastening clasp is formed for engaging with the hook to fasten the watch chain to the clasp assembly.
 4. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the outer bend plate is pivotally connected with the watch chain by a rivet, on which a security cover is disposed pivotally on both outer sides of the outer bend plate.
 5. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the security cover is a metal frame with a U-shaped section, two side plates of which have tongues extending backward for pivotally connecting with the rivet, a notch disposed on each side plate for engaging with the screw.
 6. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that a tap formed integrally on the top of the metal frame for being unlocked by hand.
 7. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that a spacer is provided between the security cover and the watch chain.
 8. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that a protrusion is disposed on each inner side of two side plates of the metal frame, and a through hole corresponding to the protrusion is disposed on each side plate of the clasp cap.
 9. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the outer bend plate is pivotally connected with the watch chain by a rivet, on which a security cover is disposed pivotally on both outer sides of the outer bend plate.
 10. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the outer bend plate is pivotally connected with the watch chain by a rivet, on which a security cover is disposed pivotally on both outer sides of the outer bend plate.
 11. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the security cover is a metal frame with a U-shaped section, two side plates of which have tongues extending backward for pivotally connecting with the rivet, a notch disposed on each side plate for engaging with the screw.
 12. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the security cover is a metal frame with a U-shaped section, two side plates of which have tongues extending backward for pivotally connecting with the rivet, a notch disposed on each side plate for engaging with the screw.
 13. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that a tap formed integrally on the top of the metal frame for being unlocked by hand.
 14. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that a tap formed integrally on the top of the metal frame for being unlocked by hand.
 15. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that a spacer is provided between the security cover and the watch chain.
 16. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that a spacer is provided between the security cover and the watch chain.
 17. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that a protrusion is disposed on each inner side of two side plates of the metal frame, and a through hole corresponding to the protrusion is disposed on each side plate of the clasp cap.
 18. A clasp assembly as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that a protrusion is disposed on each inner side of two side plates of the metal frame, and a through hole corresponding to the protrusion is disposed on each side plate of the clasp cap. 